Inspection apparatus for transparent vessels



Nov. 23, 1948. N. P. STOATE 2,454,412

INSPECTION APPARATUS FOR mmsmnnm VESSELS Filed Sept. 14, 1 945 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Nov. 23, 1948. MP. sToA E 2,454,412

I INSPECTION APPARATUS FOR TRANSPARENT VESSELS Filed Sept. 14 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 1943' N. P. STOATE I 2, 4,4 v

INSPECTION APPARATUS FORTRANSPARENT VESSELS Filed se t. 14, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet s HTTORNIFY Filed Sept. 14, 1945 INSPECTION APPARATUS FOR TRANSPARENT VESSELS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 o 4-7/ 5 63 68 Z 67 j fl gal nv VEN TOR fVozmnv 2424"? 5 731176 A TTOR/VE Y Patented Nov. 23, 1948 INSPECTION APPARATUS FOR TRANS- PARENT VESSEIlS NormanwrParker;.;Stoate Hampstead. Garden Suburb -London; England,..assi'gnor. to United.v Dairies. Limited, London, England; a British company Application: September 14, 1945, Serial No; 616,301)

. Inj Gre'atrBritainSeptember 19, 1944 8Claims.

This: inventionrelates to apparatusior scanning the bottomlof a transparent vessel to detect foreign: particles thereon, by means. of lightdirected longitudinally through- -the-: mouth and bottomofthevessel on to a photo-electric device. An object ofthe invention lento-provide: an improved construction of such scanning. apparatus and a further object isv to A provide means for compensating for variations: inthelight transmission value oithevessel bottom; due forex+ ample, toconvexity or; concavity thereof; v

Yet another'objectis.torprovide a construction which will enablesubstantially the same .minimum. size: of: foreign. body to be: detectedanywhere on the .bottonof'the vessel.

According; to thewpresent invention: apparatus of theabovehind'is:characterisedby the combinationwith; the 1 source :of lightryand the; photoelectricdeviceu of means forlocatingya vessel'to beuscanned between the source of light and" the photo-electric'device, a scanning-devicedisposed between the source of light and-the photo-electric device, and means for rotatingythe. vessel; about its longitudinal axis. relatively;- tosaid. scanning device; said scanning devicerjcomprisingafirst screen providedwwith. an aperture having anarea small relative to that: of the bottom 10f, the: vessel, and-a second; screen provided wit-ha slit-which is disposed.substantially'radially of." the vessel bottom; the width of'said slitbeing at leastequal to the width of said apertureyandimeans for moving said first screen relatively to said; second screen. so as totraversemhe aperture along the slitas thevesselrotatesx The rate of travel of then apertured screen-in relation tothe speed of rotation; of the vessel depends on: the size of the aperture, for example if the.aperture iskcircularnand has: a diameter equal to one eighth: of: that of. th'ezinsidea of: the vessel, then the rate-. oftravel of; the;..apertured screen, mustybeslow enoughz toxpermitthe vessel to make ,at' least four revolutionsrwhiletthe aperture. is travelling fromtonezendiof.theslit to the othersmasto scan theientiresurfaceof the-:bottom of the vessel. 1

The? movement .of: the .aperturediscreen: need not becontinuous; but may be: eifected-in steps, the; extent of movement: at :each. steps being: not greater than the diameter: of the smallestaparticle it is desired to detect;

Preferably. thephoto-electric; device 'isin a the form of a photo-electric cell mountedfor i movement with the apertured screen whereby the light passing. throughthe. aperture .in saidscreen always iallsbn the sameLarea .ofithe cellicathode.

2' Bythis means variations in thesensitivity of.the apparatus due. to possible variations in the sen sitivity. of different areas. of the cathode are obviated. i

In a convenient form of the invention the apertured. screen may bein the form of a tube surrounding thephoto-electric cell and the screen having. the.s1it may be in the form of asecond tube surrounding said apertured tube.

According. to afurther feature of the invention the .slit in; the second screenmay be shaped to compensate for variation in the light transmission-value. of. the. vessel. bottom. due. for example to convexity of saidbottom and .to this endthe slit, may, have a width :which varies alongv its lengthin'accordance with variationsin the light transmissionvaluecf the bottom of said vessel from. thecentre to the periphery thereof,. the maximumwidth of said. slit being at least: equal to thewidth of the aperture inthe first screen.

By -thisimeans the eifective width of the aperture is varied as it travels along the slit to compensate for variations in the light transmission value. of thevessel bottom.

" Inlthe. case-0f vessels having an internally convex. bottom, in which due to the convexity, the light transmission value variesfrom a:max.- imum at-the centre. to a minimum attheperiphery, the-widthnof. thev slitv may vary... from a minimum. at the centre to-a maximum at. the periphery,- andwconversely if internally concave vessel bottoms. areto be scanned. Theaperture in the; firstscreerr is preferably circular, but may be, for example, oval or square.

In order that the invention maybe-morerfully understood two .embodimentsthereot will now be described: bywayv of example-with referenceto the accompanying diagrammatic drawings. in WhiChI,"

Flg'.;: 1. shows one construction according to the invention, in plan; I

Fig. 2 is an.elevation partly: in section on the lineII-Ilof Fig. 1;

Fig. ,3 is a sectional plan onthe :line III-.-III of Fig.2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan,- similar' to -Fig. 3,.0f

another-embodiment of the invention, being; a sectionion the line IV-IV of Fig; 5;

Fig. 5 is an=elevation,- partly in'section,.-of the ,uppenpart of said: other embodiment, of. which the lower partis constructed inthe' manner shozwn .intFiga 2;

Fig.6 is a plan to antenlargedscale of the scanning. mechanism. employed: in ..the. embodiment Fig. 7 is a vertical section through said scanning mechanism,

Fig. 8 is a section on the line VIII-VIII of Fig. 7, and V Figs. 9 and illustrate modifications.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 the apparatus comprises a vertical central shaft fixed in a support 2 carried by a base plate 3.

Rotatably mounted on the shaft I is a casing 4 on the upper part of which is carried a head 5 comprising four platforms 6 to receive the bottles.

The bottles are fed to the rotating head5 by a conveyor band i which may be driven by any known means, a guide 8 being provided to feed the bottles on to the platforms 6; the head being recessed at each platform as shown in order to locate a bottle on the platform.

Depending from a fixed support 9 adJacent platform 5 there is formed within a portion' ib of the casing l a chamber it within which is housed a photocell l3.

There is a chamber I2 containing a photocell l3 below each platform 5 and, below the chambers l2, the casing 4 is divided into four compartments H! which serve to house the amplifiers for the photocells, one of said amplifiers being shown diagrammatically at i5 in Fig. 2. The lamps l0 may be shaded to prevent light from one lamp affecting the cell associated with another.

The casing 4 is rotated by an electric motor I6 which, through worm gear l'l drives a clutch ele 'ment |8 freely mounted on the shaft The casing 4 rests freely on a friction disc l9 disposed between the bottom la of the casing A and the clutch element 18, the weight of the casing being sufficient to provide an effective friction grip and consequent driving of the casing from the motor.

Connected at one end to a lug 23a on a fixed frame member 23 is a belt 2| of flexible but inextensible material, e. g. canvas, the inside of which islined with a friction material such as rubber. The other end of said belt is connected by a spring 22 to another fixed lug 2317 so that the belt embraces the head 5.

As the casing 4 rotates and carries the bottles around, the external wall of each bottle engages the lining of the belt 2| whereby the bottles are rotated about their longitudinal axes on the platforms 3 as they travel around bodily with the head 5,

Cooperating with each slit is a moving screen 26 carried by an arm 27 pivoted at 28 to the underside of the floor 23 of the head-5, the screen being spaced above the arm 21 by a, spacer 3B.

The screen 26 is provided with a circular scanning aperture 3| and extends through a light-proof slot 32 in the wall 33 of chamber I2 so as to pass between the platform 6 and the photocell.

The centre line of slit H is disposed along an are having its centre coincident with the centre of the pivot 28 for the arm 21 and the scanning aperture 3| isclisposed on this arc, the aperture 3| beingor a diameter equal to the width of the slit Accordingly by rocking the arm 2! back 4 and forth about pivot 28 the aperture 3| is caused to travel to and fro underneath the slit H from one end thereof to the other.

In order thus to rock the arm 21, said arm carries a roller 34 urged into contact with a fixed cam 35 by a spring 36 anchored by a pin 3! to the underside of the floor 29 of the head 5. The cam 35 is common to all the arms 21 and is fixed to the stationary shaft the innermost wall 38 of the casing portion 4b being reduced in height to admit the cam 35, and a spacing ring 35b being disposed around the shaft above the cam.

The cam 35 is formed with a number of concentric steps 350. so arranged that when a platform 6 is in the position indicated at B in Fig. 1 the aperture 3| in screen 26 is below the centre of a bottle Aon said platform. As the casing 4 rotates counterclockwise in Fig. 1 the roller 34 passes round the periphery of cam 35 of which the steps 35a progressively decrease in radius until the platform 6 approaches the position C in which the roller 34 is on the step 35a of smallest radius.

, During this movement of the casing 4, the arm 2'7, under the action of spring 35, rocks progressively clockwise about its pivot 28, as the roller 34 reaches the successive steps 35a ofcam 35, with the result that the screen 26 is moved'from the position shown at the right hand of Fig. 3 in which its aperture 3| is below the centre of the bottle A to the position shown at the left hand of Fig. 3 in which its aperture is below the periphery of the bottom of the bottle. During this movement of the screen the bottle will have performed several revolutions about its longitudinal axis owing to its engagement with the belt 2|.

When the bottle is on the platform 6 light from the lamp |U which is above the bottle will pass longitudinally through the mouth of the bottle, through the slit H in the platform which acts as a fixed screen and through the aperture 3| in the moving screen 26 onto the photocell l3. Accordingly if the bottle were to remain stationary the traversing of the aperture 3| along the slit would eifect scanning of a curved strip of the bottom 'of the bottle. Since however the engagement of the bottle with the belt 2| during rotation of the head 5 causes rotation of the bottle about its'own axis the entire surface of the bottom of the bottle is thoroughly scanned during the period in which the bottle is carried round with the rotating head 5, I

As the centrifugal force due to the rotation of the bottle tendsto cause any particle within the bottle to move to the periphery thereof, it is preferred to start the scanning operation at the centre of the bottom of the bottle and to move the screen so that the aperture in the screen moves along the slit in the support from the centre outwardly towards the periphery. If this were not done a particle initially at the centre might fly to the periphery after the peripheral area had been scanned and before the centre had been scanned, so'that this particle might escape the scanning operation altogether in which case it would remain undetected.

Accordingly the shape of the cam 35 is such that when the bottle first begins to rotate about its axis the aperture 3| in the moving screen 26 is atthe centre of the bottom of the bottle and during the rotation of the bottle the screen 23 moves to traverse the aperture 3| along the slit H from the centre tothe periphery of the bottom of the bottle. 1 I

. Each photocell is arranged to control an electric circuit in such a way thatif the intensity of the light falling on thecell is reduced below the predeterminedvaluethe change in the current flowingin the circuit operates-a-device to give an indication of the presence of a foreign body in thebottle. I

To this end the photocell controls through the amplifier Iii-a magnet'M 'of which the armature is in the form of a triprod 4i carrying at its lower end an insulated contact disc 42.

The magnet 45 is normally energised and-is deenergised when the light falling on the photocell is reduced due-to a foreign body. When-the magnet thus becomes de-energised the -trip rod 4i drops and connects a pair of contacts 43 by meansof its disc 42.

As alreadymentionedthe-head 5 rotatesabout the shaft I and during this'rotation the bottles rotate about their axes whereby the bottom of each bottle is scanned by means'of the moving screen'ZE and slot I i;

If, during this scanning'operation; a foreign body is present ina bottle, this body-on passing over the slit I! at a time when'the aperture 3| is in register with the body will reduce the light falling. on'the photocell I3; and the currentflo.w ing through the amplifier I5) will be increased. This increased current opens the? contacts of a relay, as .will be explained. later, whereby the current supply to themagnet 40 is cut off andthe trip rod 4! is allowedto fall;

The fall of the trip rod is utilised to eject the defective bottle and the means for eife'cting this operation will now be described.

The bottles are discharged fromjthe head. 5' on to the conveyor band I. by means ofrotating fingers 44 whichact alternately, beingsecured to .a shaft 45 which is driven at a speed relative to that of the casing such thatthe bottle whenimpelled by one. of the fingers 4.4't'ravelsfaster than whenimpelled by the head; Thisshaft. 45. is r0.- tatedby means of gear teeth 48 cut on. the lower part of the casing 4, which teeth engagewith a gear wheel 47 secured to theshaft. 45 (see Fig. 2.).

Mounted on brackets 48..secured tostandards 48-. rising from the baseplate 3 is a fixed ring 50 carrying the pair of insulated,contacts43-which are. connected. to apparatus forreleasi-ng a guide Sit-for ejecting the defective bottle fromthe'band I after saidbottle has been" discharged fromthe head onto said band.

This guide 52. is secured to ashaft 53.-and is normally latched out of the' path of the bottles as they-pass along on the-band, amagnetfor releasing the latch being energised when the contacts 43 are bridged. by theutrip rod: disc 42'. Whenthe latch; is released a spring pulls the guide 52 into the path of thebottles so that the defective bottle is guided off.:the band on' t'o a receiving platform.

It will'be understood that'a bottle in which; no foreign-body has. been detected will,'inpassing off the platform 6, tendto release the-trip-rod -4I., sincerthe- Walls of thebottle: inpassingover. the aperture-3| 'Will". reduce the light; reaching: the photocell I3.

In. order to obviatethis. incorrect release of. the triprodAI, a guard plate 54 is providednabove the ring 59; this plate 54ibeing disposed'so that its upper surface is just levelwith the under surface; of the-disc. 42'on the: triprod-AI when-.the latter is in.itsraised'position: When the magnet 405.15 derenergisedi due to thebottlewalls passe ing; over the aperturesm; the trip rod 4| is prevented from dropp by the wguardrplate. 5.4:

If} however; the magnet has already; been; (lee? energised due to a foreign). bOdYT inf the bottle passing over theaperture 3 I',i the: trip rodrM will have dropped until arrested by. its .disc 42Il=engag:. iiig the ring 50'. The-disc 42.x-Lwill therefore :pass round under the guard plate 54?:and will bridge the contacts -4*3,- thereby releasing the ejector finger or guide 52; b y means-of a relay (not shown);

- The contacts 43*must be placedso as to give the necessary delay in the release of the guide 52; which release must occur after the preceding bottle has passed the position which the guide occupiesivhenreleased;but before the bottle to be ejected has reached a position in whichit would be struck by the guide during the movement ofthe latter.

In order to reset the trip'rod 4-I *into its upper position after it hasbecn'releasedi a ramp 55 is providedon-t-he ring 50; Conveniently-this ramp 55 1s placedso'as-tobe engaged-by the disc 42 on the trip rod just after a bottle has arrived onthe associated platform 6. By- -this-means the-trip 4I reset after having been released either-by a foreign" body in the bottle Whichwas previously ontheplatfornr t or bythe passing of the walls of the next following bottle over the aperture 1-H while said followingbottle' was passing-on tofthe platform.

Current is supplied to the electrical circuits'of the apparatus through-brushes. 56" se'curedto a fixedbracket" E'I and engagingwithslip' rings 58 secured to the underside of the lower portion of the casing 4.

In some cases it has been found that the mere restoration of normal illumination after the particle has passed over the aperture Si is insufficient to reduce the current in.the photocell circuit sufficiently to open the relay, with the re.- sult, that the magnet 40. remains de-energised andrel'eases the triprod 4! again immediately afterit has. been reset. In order to overcome this difiiculty means. may be provided, for. increasing the illumination. of .thebottonnof the. bottlev while the trip rod 4| is inthe. region. of the resetting device.

Such .means. for increasing. the. illumination may comprise a. supplemental lamp BIlsupported on a fixed standard 5| adjacent the rotating head 5.. and positioned to. direct its light on. to the platforms 6 asflthey pass. This. lampfifi is also positioned between. the contacts 43- which are closed-bythe disc 42 t;o.initiate actuation of'the bottle ejecting I mechanism. and the ramp 55..f.or resetting. the trip rod 4|. 7

After the platform; 5 has passed beyond the region illuminated by the. supplemental lamp 60 the disc 42 engages the ramp. 55-.as: already described, and, since now the magnet 40-is re-energised, the rod M is raised and held in its-uppermost position.

Ina modified construction ShQXVH iHeEi'SQ 4 to 8 the platform fialis madeeof clear glass and be? lowtheplatformrthere is formed within the cash1g4. a compartment Ilacwithini which is mounted a fixed screen 65 in the formof ahollow cylind-er having a. slit 65 formed in its upper surface and. so. positioned as to be radial: of the: bottom of a bottle when in-scanningposition on-the glass platform 6a. The cylindrical screensfi is sup.- por-tedon ashelf- B'Isecuredzto thevvall .of-therotating; casing 4;.

The photocell I3 is mounted-on rod 68 which is mounted to reciprQcate-invguides 7 69 fixed to the underside of a part 10 of the head which is in the plane of the glass platform 6a. This rod 68 also carries a moving screen in the form of a cylinder II surrounding the photocell l3 and having an aperture 12 formed therein to register with the slot 66.

The inner end of the rod 68 carries a roller 13 maintained in engagement with a fixed cam 14 by means of a spring 15 surrounding the rod 68 between one of the guides 69 and a collar 16 fixed to the shaft.

The cam 14 is stepped similarly to the cam already described and, as the head rotates, the cam 14 causes the rod 68 to move in and out whereby the aperture 12, with the photocell I3 is moved along the slot 66 in the fixed screen 65 from the centre to the periphery of the bottle as the latter rotates.

This construction has the advantage that the light reaching the photocell l3 through the aperture 12 always falls on the same area of the cell cathode.

The source of light may be positioned above the vessel and the light sensitive device below the vessel as shown in the drawings, or vice versa.

The relay above referred to is connected to the amplifier [5 in such a way that an increase in current through the amplifier opens the relay contacts, which contacts are in the circuit of the magnet 48 so that the said increase in current breaks the magnet circuit and de-energises it. On a reduction in the current through the amplifier to its, normal value the relay contacts close thereby establishing the magnet circuit again.

Owing to the convexity of the bottom of the bottle more light is required to prevent operation of the photocell when the aperture is at the periphery of the bottom than when it is at the 'centre. Accordingly in order to enable the same minimum size of particle to be detected anywhere on the bottom of the bottle the width of the slit may increase from the centre towards the periphery as shown in Figure 9, so as to permit the amount of light reaching the aperture in the moving screen to increase as the aperture moves from the centre towards the periphery. In such constructions the aperture will have a width substantially equal to the maximum width of the slit.

For example in the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 3 the sides of the slit Il may be not concentric circular arcs, but, as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 10 may be curved, diverging to substantially equal extents from the arcuate centre line from the centre towards the periphery of the platform so that the slit is wider at the outer end than at the inner end, the diameter of the aperture at being equal to the maximum width of the slit II.

By this means the efiective width of the aperture 3| is increased as it travels from the centre to the periphery of the bottle bottom and reduced as it travels in the reverse direction thereby compensating for the variation in the light transmission value of the bottle bottom, due to convexity thereof.

Similarly in the construction shown in Figs. 4 to 8 the sides of the slit 66 may be slightly curved and diverge substantially equally on both sides of the centre line from the centre towards the periphery of the platform, forming substantially a very acute angled triangle with curved sides, as shown in Fig. 9.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for scanning the bottom of a transparent vessel to detect foreign bodies thereon, comprising in combination a source of light, a photo-electric device, a movable assembly including a support for a vessel to be scanned and means for locating a vessel in scanning position thereon, a first screen disposed below the bottom of the vessel when said vessel is so located and provided with an aperture having an area small relative to that of the bottom of the vessel, a second screen provided with a slit which is disposed substantially radially of the vessel bottom when the vessel is in scanning position, the width of said slit being at least equal to the width of said aperture, said first and second screens being disposed between the source of light and the photo-electric device, means for rotating a vessel about its longitudinal axis relatively to said support, and a fixed cam about which said assembly is rotatable, said cam being arranged to effect relative movement between said first and second screens so as to transverse the aperture along the slit as the vessel rotates.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the photo-electric device is in the form of a photocell mounted for movement with the movable assembly whereby the light passing through the aperture in said screen always falls on the same area of the cell cathode, thus obviating variations in the sensitivity of the apparatus due to variations in the sensitivity of different areas of the cathode.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the support comprises the second screen having the slit formed therein.

'4. Apparatus for scanning the bottom of a transparent vessel to detect foreign bodies thereon, comprising in combination a source of light, a photo-electric device, and a movable assembly including a support for a vessel to be scanned and means for locating a vessel in scanning position thereon, a first screen mounted on said assembly and disposed below the bottom of the vessel when said vessel is so located and provided with an aperture having an area small relative to that of the bottom of the vessel, said support comprising a second screen provided with a slit which is disposed substantially radially of the vessel bottom when the vessel is in scanning position, the width of said slit being at least equal to the width of said aperture, said first and second screens being disposed between the source of light and the photo-electric device, means for rotating a vessel about its longitudinal axis relatively to said support and a fixed cam about which said assembly is rotatable, said cam being arranged to efiect relative movement between said first and second screens so as to traverse the aperture along the slit as the vessel rotates.

5. Apparatus for scanning the bottom of a transparent vessel to detect foreign bodies thereon, comprising in combination a source of light, a photo-electric device, and a movable assembly including a support for a vessel to be scanned and means for locating a vessel in scanning position thereon, a first screen disposed below the bottom of the vessel when said vessel is so located and provided with an aperture having an area small relative to that of the bottom of the vessel, a second screen provided with a slit which is disposed substantially radially of the vessel bottom when the vessel is in scanning position, the width of said slit varying along its length in a direction extending from the centre to the periphery of a vessel disposed in scanning position and having a maximum width substantially equal to the width of the said aperture, said first and second screens being disposed between the source of light and the photo-electric device, means for rotating a vessel about its longitudinal axis relatively to said support and a fixed cam about which said assembly is rotatable, said cam being arranged to effect relative movement between said first and second screens so as to traverse the aperture along the slit as the vessel rotates.

6. Apparatus for scanning the bottom of a transparent vessel to detect foreign bodies thereon, comprising in combination a source of light, a photo-electric device, and a. movable assembly including a support for a vessel to be scanned and means for locating a vessel in scanning position thereon, a first screen mounted on said assembly and disposed below the bottom of the vessel when said vessel is so located and provided with an aperture having an area small relative to that of the bottom of the vessel, said support comprising a second screen provided with a slit which is disposed substantially radially of the vessel bottom when the vessel is in scanning position, the width of said slit varying along its length in a direction extending from the centre to the periphery of a vessel disposed in scanning position and having a maximum width substantially equal to the width of the said aperture, said first and second screens being-disposed between the source of light and the photo-electric device, means for rotating a vessel about its longitudinal axis relatively to said support and a fixed cam about which said assembly is rotatable, said cam being arranged to efiect relative movement between said first and second screens so as to traverse the aperture along the slit as the vessel rotates.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first screen comprises a, tube surrounding the photo-electric device. 1

8. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first screen comprises a first tube surrounding the photo-electric device and the second screen comprises a second tube surrounding and concentric with said first tube.

NORMAN PARKER STOATE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references file of this patent:

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